Yell County, AR: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Yell County scores at the 64.9th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3.3 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Yell County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Yell County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 5.3% of them do — 15 active policies against 281 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.2% of all residential structures in Yell County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Yell County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Yell County ranks 1153 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1821 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Yell County, Arkansas is home to about 20,134 people across 930.386 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Yell County
FEMA counts 6,965 residential structures in Yell County overall, 16 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Yell County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.